I moved into Van Ness South (VNS) in the fall of 2005. It was and still is a pricy building, but offered many amenities for that price. Now on a near monthly basis services and amenities are being reduced or completely cut.

Two weeks ago building management decided to cut our evening security guard from every night 11pm-7am to only weekends. What were they thinking' People only attempt to break the law on weekends' Jeez Yesterday, management sent out a notice alerting residents to a break-in earlier this week. Those criminals work pretty fast, no' What a surprise not! Archstone also goes on to say that security is the sole responsibility of the residents That s directly from the notice they posted.

Building maintenance at VNS has suffered greatly over the past 2 years. I can t say that maintenance was ever great or perfect, but there were at least enough guys to get to apartments to look at a problem. Then as guys left the building they were never replaced. The Archstone 24hr service guarantee is a bunch of baloney.

The parking situation is a nightmare. The parking garage is undergoing major renovations so currently residents have free-for-all parking. If you can find a space great, if not, street parking may be available in the surrounding 4 or 5 blocks. Can you believe everyone pays $160 a month for THAT' The biggest concern is how long this is going to last. Archstone keeps telling residents 19 weeks and it will be over. They started a month late because the DC government shut them down for not having building permits. So that s an extra 4 weeks to tack on to the 19 weeks. They also started renovations of the VNS management office last September. It was supposed to be complete in December, they still haven t finished and it s nearly June! Gives you an idea of what we re in for with this garage project.

The building has a tenants association that occasionally puts out flyer's with building updates. I ve lived in the building for nearly 2 years and I think they ve held maybe 2 meetings. Not enough to get the VNS community together on any issue or problem. A couple of the members I ve found to be quite rude and unapproachable which turns people off to helping out and getting involved.

Yes, some of the apartments at VNS are larger then others. Yes, we re only 2 blocks from the metro. Yes, we re right next to a supermarket. But does that make up for the negatives' I used to think so, but the more and more that goes on here and the more and more I think it s time to leave.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates